Thirty-nine percent of the homes have no electricity
and 60 percent of families have no telephone. Families live in overcrowded, substandard conditions—no insulation, no
central heat. Some sleep on dirt floors. Many homes don't have running water and occupants must carry water from
the local rivers for their daily needs.
Like so many other indigenous
cultures facing the very reality of their loss of heritage and potential cultural extinction, the Lakota Nation is fighting
to preserve their way of life.
We support charities that help with food, clothing
and heating fuel back on the reservation. We also support healers who help others reclaim traditional Lakota spiritual practices
in their recovery from alcoholism and other addictions.
Our sweat lodge community now sponsors families
on Pine Ridge through a wonderful organization called ONE SPIRIT. With this program, there is no "middle man."
You are given the address of the inividual or family that you sponsor and you deal directly with them. Currently, there
are over 1000 children and elders waiting for sponsors, and that number is beginning to rise.
For more information on this program
please visit www.nativeprogress.org